Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Another plug for Trader Joe's

Maybe it's just me, but I find it much easier to strike up conversations at Trader Joe's than I do at other grocery stores. I was in line at the Emeryville store, which is walking distance from the school I teach at, and I saw that the guy behind me in line had some of the fancy chocolate bars they put up near the register. I asked him if he had tried the Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate, which is also displayed up by the register when available. He said he hadn't. He looked at the product, looked at the price and decided to buy it.

"If you don't like it, I owe you $1.50." I said magnanimously, both of us knowing we'd probably never see each other again.

Trader Joe's Dark Chocolate is the Two Buck Chuck of chocolate. Three bars of chocolate for about 50 cents each, which is less than any big name candy available today. It's not as good as the best stuff they sell, but it's good and a great value. A glass of Charles Shaw Shiraz and half a bar of the Dark Chocolate is about as happy as I can make myself spending 75 cents.

Inflation is hitting everywhere, sadly. This candy was $1.29 earlier this year.